Display unit



June 16, 1942. A, B, YEAR-FA 2,286,246

DISPLAY UNIT Filed oct. 1B, 1940 l2 sheets/ sheet 1l 27%,/ :fa- E ATTORNEYS A. B. YEARTA DISPLAY UNIT l June 16, 1942.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18. 1940 A220); Ewig.'-

INVENTOR ATTOR N EYS Patente'd June 16, 1942 DISPLAY UNIT Alton B.Yearta., Winter Haven, Fla., assigner of one-third to Ross H. Mooty,Sr., and one-third to H. E. Cornell Application October 18, 1940, SerialNo. 361,791

(Cl. Lfr- 132) 9 Claims.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in display units.

An important object of my invention is the provision of a display unitthat is uniquely constructed to permit a sign, or other printed orengraved indicia, to be observed as a series of spaced registeringsigns, the series being of infinite length to create an illusion ofextreme depth.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a device of theabove-mentioned character wherein the portion of the standard retainingthe sign is rockable about a horizontal axis, whereby passersby mayreadily observe the sign regardless of whether the standard is disposedat eye level, above eye level, as above a doorway, or placed in a windowsubstantially below the eye level.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a device of theabove-mentioned character that is simply yet durably constructed whichpermits the inexpensive manufacture thereof in substantially largequantities and which is decidedly eicient and eicacious in theperformance of its duties.

Other objects and advantages of my invention,

will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specif cation, and wherein likenumerals are employed t0 designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure l is a front elevation of the device embodying a part of myinvention,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken on the line3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevation looking in the direction of thearrows 4-4 of Figure 1, parts being shown in elevation and parts insection for clearance of illustration,

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2,

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view of the device, parts being shown inelevation and parts broken away to more clearly illustrate the interiorarrangement of the base,

Figure 7 is a perspective View of a centering and aligning apparatusadapted to be used in applying the indicia to the intermediatetransparent sheet of the unit,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken on the line8-8 of Figure 7, and

Figure 9 is a perspective View of one of the letters comprising a partof the sign shown in the illustrated drawings,

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration,is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral I0designates a standard comprising a stationary base II rockablysupporting a housing I2` The entire standard may be advantageouslyformed from sheet metal and the base may be made of any selected shapesuitable for supporting the housing. The base is here illustrated asbeing of substantially frusto-conical formation in both front and endelevation, and the bottom panel I3 thereof is preferably removable topermit access to be had to the interior of the base. The downwardlydivergent rear and front walls I6 f and I'I of the base are providedwith inturned bottom flanges I4 and I5, as best illustrated in Figure 2,to slidably support the panel I3. One end of the panel extends through aslot I8 in the base and the projecting portion thereof is preferablybent back upon itself to provide a transverse bottom shoulder I9 whichmay be gripped by the ngers in sliding the panel through the slot.Elongated strips 20 of felt, or the like, are adhesively, or otherwisesecured, to the bottom surfaces of the flanges I4 and I5 to preventmarring or scratching of the surface supporting the standard.

The box-like housing I2 is of a length slightly less than the top of thebase and includesa solid rear wall 2I, a front wall 22 having anessentially large central opening 23 and end walls 24 and 25 integrallyconnecting therewith. The lower edges of the side walls curve outwardly,as at 26, and the lower marginal edges of the front and rear walls aresimilarly arcuately curved to conform therewith. The curved lowerportions of the front and rear walls extend into the open top of thebase and the upper marginal edges of the rear and front walls I'I and I8of the base are arcuately curved to snugly accommodate the same. As bestillustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the ends of the housing extend slightlybelow the front and rear walls thereof, which extending portions arepivotally attached to the depending tabs 2'I integrally connecting withthe ends of the base. The upper portions of the end walls of the housingare similarly enlarged, as at 28, and the upper marginal edges of therear and front walls 2I and 22 are arcuately curved to conformtherewith. The end walls similarly extend above the rear and frontwalls, which extending portions are provided with an arcuately curvededge adapted to close the opposite ends of a removable cover 29. Thecover is bowed longitudinally to snugly receive the extending portionsof the end walls and the opposite marginal edges thereof are providedwith laterally extending guides 39 adapted to be slidably received inthe inner guideways 3| of the rear and front walls.

A supporting bracket 32 is iixedly mounted within the housing at eachend thereof. Each of the brackets extends the full depth of the opening23 and is of substantially U-shaped formation in transverse section. Asbest illustrated in Figure 3, the side flanges of the brackets arespaced from the rear and front walls to provide channels 33 and 34 andthe base 35 thereof is provided with a longitudinal medial guide 35. Anopaque mirror 31 is mounted on the rear wall of the housing inconfronting relation with the front opening 23 and the ends thereof aresnugly received within the rear channels 33 to hold the same in pressedrelation with the wall. A second transparent mirror 38 is also disposedwithin the housing in pressed relation with the front wall to close theopening 23 and the ends thereof are snugly received within the frontchannels 34 provided by the end brackets. A transparent sheet 39 ofglass, or like material, is interposed between the mirrors 31 and 38 andwith the opposite vertical edges thereof slidably received Within theintermediate guides 36. If desired, the edges of the sheet 33 extendinginto the guides may be protected by a strip of felt 49, .or the like. Asbest illustrated in Figure 3, the sheet 39 is disposed at substantiallythe longitudinal center of the housing and in equi-spaced relation witheach of the mirrors 31 and 38. Suitable indicia 4I, such as the nameJohn Doe illustrated in the drawings, is carried b-y the sheetsubstantially centrally of the opening 23.

If rays of light are caused to pass between the transparent sheet andthe mirrors, the indicia on the sheet will be clearly seen as multiplereflections between the mirrors by a person looking through the opening23 and through the transparent mirror 38. The illusion thus created isto the effect that there is an infinite number .of the indicia, eachletter or character thereof being arranged in columns of infinitelength. If either the front or rear mirror is in-clined slightly eithervertically or horizontally, the columns of characters will appear tocurve gradually either upwardly or downwardly or to the right or left inaccordance therewith.

In order to effect proper illumination of the unit I prefer to use theLumiline bulbs 42 though, obviously, any suitable type of bulb may beused. Sockets 43 'are mounted on each end wall of the housing above andbelow the brackets 32 and above and below the upper and lower edges ofthe opening 23. The bulbs comprise elongated transparent tubes the endsof which are closed by metallic conductors which, in turn, have aradially extending prong adapted to be received by the sockets 43. Theupper bulb 42 will thus be received within the cover 29 and the lowerbulb will be 'accommodated within the base Il. An outlet socket 44 isdisposed within thebase and is here illustrated as being mounted on therear wall l5. Electrical conductors 45 connect each of the sockets 43with the outlet socket 44 and one end of the outlet socket extendsthrough the supporting wall to receive a male plug 46 carried by the endof a suitable conductor 41. The conductor 41 leads to any sui-tablesource of electric current and, when properly connected, will effectillumination of each of the bulbs 42.

An arcuately curved reflector 48 is arranged below the lower bulb 42 andthe opposite ends thereof are secured to the braces 49 extendingtransversely of the base. The reflector is spaced slightly below thebulb in a manner to reflect the light rays from the bulbupwardly andbetween the mirrors and the transparent sheet. As best illustrated inFigure 2, the forward edge of the reflector is spaced substantially fromthe front wall l1 of the base to permit the bulb 42 to also illuminatethe transparent panel 51, which is detachably held by the clips 53 toclose the opening 58 in the front wall. Any desired indicia may beinscribed on the panel 51, which indicia may be clearly seen through theopening 5S. I prefer that the arcuately curved inner surface of thecover 29 be coated with baked enamel, or the like, to provide a similarreflecting surface adapted to direct the rays of light from the upperbulb 42 downwardly between the mirrors and the transparent sheet.

Obviously, the indicia carried by the transparent sheet 39 may beinscribed thereby in any suitable manner, such as by painting, etching,or the like. I have, however, here illustrated the separate charactersof the indicia as comprising raised letters V5l) which are preferablyapplied to both the front 'and rear surfaces thereof. In Figures '7 and8 I have illustrated a suitable device for assuring the proper centeringand aligning of the letters. The device comprises an essentiallyrectangular frame 5I the inner peripheral edge of whi-ch is bentdownwardly and inwardly tol provide a supporting ledge 52. When thesheet is supported by the ledge, the top surface thereof will extendflush with the top surface of the frame whereby the rules 53 may bemoved thereacross to align the upper and lower ends of the letters. Setscrews 56 carried by the ends of the rules may be threaded into pressedengagement with the upper surface of the frame to securely hold therules in a selected adjusted position. The end pieces of the frame areprovided with equi-spaced markings 54 to permit each of the rules to bepositioned equi-distant from the longitudinal center of the frame andeach of the rules is provided with markingsl55 to facilitate the properspacing of the characters.

It may thus be seen that I have provided a display unit which creates aunique and attractive optical illusion. When the bulbs 42 areilluminated, the indicia on the transparent sheet 39 and on thetransparent panel 51 may be readily observed by a person standing infront of the unit. The panel 51 will appear as a conventionalilluminated sign kand the indicia on the sheet 39 will have anappearance of extreme depth. By reason of the multiple reflectionsobtained between the front and rear mirrors 38 and 31, the characters onthe intermediate sheet will be reected back and forth and the multiplerefiections thus obtained provide a display which will readily attractthe attention of passersby. The unique construction of the support willpermit the unit to be positioned at eye level or substantially above orbelow eye level. By rocking the housing I2 about its pivots, the housingmay be tilted either forwardly or backwardly in a manner to best presentthe indicia to the passersby. The middle sheet 39 is easily removablewhen the cover 23 and upper bulb 42 are removed which uniqueconstruction permits the display to be changed at regular intervals andwith a minimum expenditure of time and effort.

It is to .be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shownYand described, is to be taken as a preferred example of '.the same, andthat various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts .may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, or scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a display unit, a housing having an open top and an opening in oneof its sides, atransparent mirror mounted to close the open side of thehousing, a true mirror mounted in the housing rearwardly of and inspaced parallel relation with the said transparent mirror, a transparentsheet having indicia thereon removably mounted within the housing insubstantially equi-spaced parallel relation with the said mirrors, lampmeans removably mounted within the housing, the said lamp means beingarranged across the open top of the housing in edgewise spaced relationwith the said transparent sheet to direct rays of light between thesheet of the transparent mirror and also between the sheet and the truemirror, and a cover detachably mounted on the housing for closing theopen top thereof, the arrangement being such that the cover and lamp maybe easily removed to permit the transparent sheet to be easily insertedin or removed from the housing through the said open top.

2. In a display unit, a housing having an open top and an opening in oneof its sides, a transparent mirror mounted to close the open side of thehousing, a mirror mounted in the housing rearwardly of and in spacedparallel relation with the said first mentioned mirror, a transparentsheet having indicia thereon removably mounted within the housing insubstantially equi-spaced parallel relation with the said mirrors, lampmeans removably mounted within the housing, the said lamp means beingarranged across the open top of the housing and in endwise spacedrelation with the said transparent sheet to direct rays of light betweenthe sheet of the transparent mirror and also between the sheet and theother of the said mirrors, the arrangement being such that the said lampmay be easily removed to permit the transparent sheet to be easilyinserted in or removed from the housing through the said open top.

3. In a display unit, a housing having an opening in one of its sides, atransparent mirror closing the open side of the housing, a true mirrorWithin the housing in spaced parallel relation with the said transparentmirror, a transparent sheet having similar indicia embossed on itsopposite sides disposed intermediate and in substantially equi-spacedrelation with the said rst and second mentioned mirror whereby toposition the indicia on each side of the said sheet equidistant from itsrespective mirror, and lamp means removably mounted within the housingacross the open ltop thereof and in edgewise spaced relation with thetransparent sheet whereby to direct rays of light into the space betweenthe sheet and transparent mirror and also into the space between thesheet and the true mirror.

4. In a display unit, a housing having an open top and an opening in oneof its sides, a trans'v parent mirror mounted to close the open side ofthe housing, a mirror permanently mounted in the housing rearwardly ofand in spaced parallel relation with the said rst mentioned mirror, anda lamp means removably mounted across the open top of the housing andsubstantially intermediate the said mirrors to 'direct rays .oflightsubstantially equally on all sides of an object placed intermediate themirrors, removal of the lamp lpermitting access to be readily had to theinterior of the housing 'whereby to easily effect insertion or removalof the said object.

5. In a 'display unit, a housing having an open top and an opening inone of-its sides, a transparent mirror mounted to close the open side ofthe housing7 a mirror permanently mounted in the housing rearwardly ofandin spaced parallel relation with the said rst `mentioned mirror, alamp means 'removably mounted across the open top of the housing andsubstantially intermediate the saidmirrors to direct rays of lightsubstantially equally on all sides of an object placed intermediatethe'mirrors, removal of the lamp permitting access to be readily had tothe Vinterior of the housing whereby to easily effect insertion orremoval of the said object, and a cover removably mounted on the housingin protective relation with the said lamp means and in closing relationwith the said open top `of the housing.

6. In a display unit, a housing having a front and top opening, verticalguides within the housing at opposite sides of the said top opening, atransparent mirror mounted within the housing at one side .of the topopening and in covering relation with the said front opening, a truemirror mounted within the housing at the opposite side of the said topopening, a transparent sheet having indicia thereon disposed within thehousing intermediate the said mirrors, the side edges of the said sheetbeing slidably -within the guideways, and lamp means for directing raysof light between the sheet and the said transparent mirror and betweenthe sheet and the said true mirror, the arrangement being such that thesheet may be easily introduced into or removed from the housing throughthe said top opening.

7 In a display unit, a base; a housing pivoted to the base for rockingmovement about a horizontal axis, said housing having an opening in itsfront wall and an opening in its top wall; means for holding the housingin a selected adjusted position on the base; a transparent mirrormounted to close the opening in the front wall of the housing; a truemirror mounted in the housing rearwardly of the transparent mirro-r andin spaced parallel relation therewith; guides extending into the housingat opposite sides of the opening in the top wall intermediate of and insubstantially equi-spaced relation with the said mirrors; and atransparent sheet having indicia thereon and having opposite edgesthereof slidably disposed within the guides, the arrangement being suchthat access may easily be had to the said sheet through the said topopening to eiect ready insertion or removal of the same into or from thehousing through the said top opening.

8. In a display unit, a base; a housing pivoted to the base for rockingmovement about a horizontal axis, said housing having an opening in itsfront wall and an opening in its top wall; means for holding the housingin a selected adjusted position on the base; a transparent mirrormounted to close the opening in the front wall of the housing; a truemirror mounted in the housing rearwardly of the transparent mirror andin spaced parallel relation therewith; guides extending into the housingat opposite sides of the opening in the top wall intermediate of and insubstantially equi-spaced relation with the said mirrors; a transparentsheet having indicia thereon and having opposite edges thereof slidablydisposed within the guides; and a lamp means removably mounted acrossthe top opening in the housing and in edgewise spaced relation with thetransparent sheet to direct rays of light between the sheet and the saidmirrors, the arangement being such that the lamp may be easily removedto permit access to be had to the sheet through the top opening to eiectready insertion or removal of the same into or from the housing.

9. In a display unit, a base; a housing pivoted to the base for rockingmovement about a horizontal axis, said housing having an opening in itsfront wall and an opening in its top Wall; means for holding the housingin a selected adjusted position on the base; a transparent mirrormounted to close the opening in the front wall of the housing; a truemirror mounted in the housing rearwardly of the transparent mirror andin spaced parallel relation therewith; guides extending into the housingat opposite sides of the opening in the top Wall intermediate of and insubstantially equi-spaced relation with the said mirrors; a transparentsheet having indicia thereon and having opposite edges thereof slidablydisposed within the guides; a lamp means removably mounted across thetop opening in the housing and in edgewise spaced relation with thetransparent sheet to direct rays of light between the sheet and the saidmirrors; and a cover having an inner reflecting surface carried by thehousing to close the said top opening', the arrangement being such thatthe lamp and cover may be easily removed to permit access to be had tothe sheet through the top opening to effect ready insertion or removalof the same into or from the housing.

ALTON B. YEARTA.

